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Friday, January 18, 2008

Flash Back Friday

Oh the joy of youth. These two photos don't have too much to do with each other except for the fact that my little brother happens to be in both of them.

This is Jesh, Andy and me, probably in 1992 or so. That would put me in second grade, Andy in third, and Jesh in Kindergarten. Andy is the first boy I ever had a crush on. When my family moved from Maine to Utah, Andy was my pen pal for a while. He used to draw me funny pictures. I loved Andy's red hair. Maybe that's why I love redheads so much; it stems from great childhood memories. Andy's mom ran a daycare in her home and I have such great memories of playing with Kit and Andy (two of her sons).

When my family moved back to Maine in 1999, Andy was still living in my hometown. And he was so nice to me, even though I hated being back in Freeport and was mean. I was probably the most miserable cheerleader in our school. But Andy was still nice to me. He went to college in NYC after he graduated, but then the Twin Towers were struck and he came home. I don't think the city was the best fit for him, and after that tragedy he decided to stay home. I usually see him when I visit now, and I always wish he could've left Freeport for a while, just to experience a bit more of the world.

Now we move on to a photo from 2000, featuring Jeshua, Sophia, our dog Taz and our cat Punkin.

Punkin was the most anti-social cat known to man. And yet, here he is, basking in the glow of the TV with my younger siblings and hyper-active Boston Terrier. Taz is about 13 years old now and lives with my Grandpa Dan. When my Grandma died in 2002 we asked him to watch Taz for us, just "for a little while." She's been his best bud ever since.

Punkin was a fighter and a wanderer. He wandered away one winter and didn't come back for weeks. I think it might have been around Christmas. He wandered away again after that and never came back. He wasn't happy unless he was outside most of the time. But whenever I needed a cuddle, he'd humor me. After he disappeared, my mom assured me we'd get a new cat. I think we finally did about 6 minutes before I left for college. I guess it was better that way- I didn't get too attached before moving across the country (back to Utah).Jeshua just turned 21 last November, and Sophia will be 18 in July. I can't believe they've actually grown up. From the looks of them in the picture, you'd never imagine they'd stop being scrawny little punks.

Sophia just got accepted to BYU Provo (way to go!!) and will be heading out here to Utah, probably with Jeshua. His BYU scholarship has been deferred the last two years so he could serve his LDS mission in Mexico. He should return to the states in the spring of this year. I'm sure he's excited to pick up his summer jobs in Freeport again-- most likely feeding tourists at The Corsican restaurant and being a counselor for summer day camps on the beach. Rough life.

What this means is that all my siblings will be in Utah starting this fall. I'm tickled pink at that idea. Jeshua will actually get to know Kev... they only met the night before Jeshua entered the Missionary Training Center in 2006. If Jesh and Kev get along as well as Kev and Seth, I might as well say my goodbyes now. I'll never see him again if those two boys get a hold of him. There'll be endless talk of guns, video games, cars... and they'll teach Kev Spanish.

Anyway, the point was to flash back, and this post has made me do that as well as flash foward. Good times.